Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-12-29

many people who have employed this tnBli- Il
tusion there is vast number who are ignor-
ant OF its excellences. There are men with |
cramped chests and weak sides and despond- |
dent spirits who through the gymnasium |
might be reused up TO exuberance and exhil- |
aration OF life. There are many Christian |
people despondent from year to year who !
might through such an institution be bene-
fitted in their spiritual relations There are
Christian people who seem 30 think that Il II
. good sign 10 be poorly, and because Richard
Bauer and Robert Hall were invalids they
think that 10 the same sickliness they may
come to the same grandeur Of character. l
want to tell the Christian people Of my con-
Rregatiou that God will hold you responsible
for your invalidism II it Is your fault and
when through right exercise and prudence
you might be athletic and well. The effect
OF the body upon the soul you acknowledge.
Put man of mild disposition upon the ami.
NAL diet Of which the Indian partales and in
a little while his blood will change its chemi-
cal proportions. It will become like unto
the blood OF the lion or the tiger or the bear,
while his disposition will change and become
ferce, cruel and unrelenting The body has
q powerful effect upon the soul.
There are good people whose ideas of
Heaven are all shut out with clouds of tobac-
co smoke. There are people who dare to
shatter the physical vase in which God has
put the jewel OF eternity. There are men
with great hearts and intellects In bodies worn
out by their own neglects-magnihcent ma
chinery, capable Of propelling an EtrHria
across the Atlantic, yet fastened in rick
ETY. North river propeller Martin Luther
was so mighty for God, first, because he had
a noble soul and secondly, because he had
muscular development which would have
enabled him TO thrash any FIVE OF his
prosecutors, II it had been Christian so to do.
Physical development which merely shows
! itself in fabulous lifting, or in perilous rope
walking, or in pugilistic encounter, excites
only our contempt; but we confess to great
admiration for the man who has great
soul in an athletic body, every nerve, muscle
and bone Of which is consecrated to right
uses. Oh, 1t seems to me outrageous that
men, through neglect, should allow their
physical health to go down beyond repair. A
ship which ought, with all sail set and every
man at his post, to be carrying rich cargo
for eternity employing all its men in stopping
up leakages When you may, through the
gymnasium, work off your spleen and your
querulousness and one-half Of your physical
and mental ailments, do not turn your back
upon such a grand medicament
Still further: commend to you a large
class of parlor games and recreations There
is a way Of making our homes q hundred
fold more attractive than they are now.
Those parents cannot expect to keep their
| children away from outside dissipations ur-
less they make the domestic circle brighter
than anything they can find outside Of it. Do
not, then, sit in your home surly and unsym-
pathetic, and with half condemnatory look,
because of the sportfulness of your children.
You were young once yourself; let your chill
| dren be young. Because your eyes are dim
| and your ankles are stiff do not denounce
| sportfulness in those upon whose eye there is
| the first lustre, and in whose foot there is
! the bounding joy of robust health. thank
God that in our drawing rooms and in our
| parlors there are innumerable games and
| sports which have not upon them the least
| taint Of iniquity. Light up all your homes
with innocent hilarities. Do not sit down
with the rheumatism, wondering how
| children can go on SO. Rather thank God
| that their hearts are so light and their
| laughter isso free, and that their cheeks are
| SO ruddy and that their expectations are so
radiant The night will come soon enough,
and the heartbreak, and the pang, and the
| desolation--it will come soon enough for the
dear children But when the storm actually
clouds the sky it will be time enough for
| you to haul out your reef tackles. Carry,
then, into your homes not only the innocent
sports and games which are the inventions OF
our own day, but the games which come
down with the sportfulness Of all the past
ages-chess and charades, and tableaux and
battledore, and calisthenics, and lawn tennis
and all those amusemeDts which the young
people of our homes know, SO well how to
contrive Then there will be the parlor soci
alities-groups of people assembled in YOU
homes, with wit and mimicry and jovtality
filing the room with joy from the door tc
the mantel and from the carpet to the cell
ing. Obi is there any exhlaration like 6
score of genial souls in one room, each ont
adding a contribution of his own individual
merriment to the aggregation Of genera
hilaritys
Suppose you want to go abroad in the city
then you will find the panorama and the ar
gallery and exquisite collections OF pictures
You will find the Metropolitan Museum an
the Historical Society rooms full OF rare curl
, osities, and scores of places which can stan,
plainly the test Of what is right and wrong il
. amusements You will find the lecturin
J hall, which has been honored by the name
! Of Agassiz in natural history, Doremus j
chemistry, Boynton in geology, Mitchell il
astronomy, John B. Cough in moral reform
l and scores and hundreds of men who hav
. poured their wit and genius and ingenuit
! through that particular channel upon th
: hearts and consciences and imaginations G
: men, setting this country fifty years farthe
!, in advance than II would have been withor
Q the lecture platform.
!, / rejoice in the popularization of outdoo
! sports. ! hail the croquet ground and tf
J. fisherman's rod and the sportsman's gun.
Q our cities life is so unhealthy and unnatur;
Y that when the census taker represents cit
9 as having 500, 600 inhabitants, there are onl
d 4OO, 1000, since it takes at least two men
amount to one man, so depicting and unner
i ing and exhausting is this metropolitan lif
/. We want more fresh air, more sunlight, mo
s of the abandon of field sports. cry out fl
O it in behalf Of the church of God as we'll as
!. behalf of secular interests / wish that th
70 winter our ponds and our rivers and o,
4 Capitoline grounds might be all awake wit
q the heel and the shout Of the swift skater.
lc wish that when the warm weather comes Il
9. graceful oar might dip the stream al
n the evening tide be resonant wi
s. boatman's song the bright pro
OF splitting the crystalline billow Y
% shall have the smooth and grassy lawn, al
ne we will call out people Of all occupations e,
40 professions, and ask them to join in the b,
10 players sport. You will come back frc
ne these outdoor exercises and recreations wi
ve strength in your arm, and color i'll yo
or cheek, and fash in your eye, and coura
ge in your heart In this great battle that
70 opening against the kingdom OF darkness
en- want not only consecrated soul, but
9; strong arm and stout lungs and a migh
40 muscle. / bless God that there are so me,
It. recreations that have not on them any ta
k. Of iniouity; recreations in which we m
70 engage for the strengthening OF the Doc
er for the clearing Of the intellect, for the II
III mination of the soul. ;.
ell There is still another form Of recreatl
70. which commend to you, and that Is
NJ pleasure Of doing good. have seen You
Ell men weak and cross and sour and repelli
IL in their disposition, who, by one HEAVIER
er touch, have Weakened up and become bles'
;ic and buoyant, the ground under thelr Ieet 4
In music. ssOh,n says some young man IN
Ike housa TO-DAY stT should like that recreati